Gene Parsons: 50 Years a JDSF Neighbor

Gene Parsons moved to Caspar from Southern California in 1970 and soon had a daughter, Lily. He still lives on the same road, next door to Lily and her two kids, less than 500 yards from the Caspar Scales, an area scheduled for logging yet again, with chainsaws set to fire up as early as April, 2021.

Jackson State Forest Then and Now

"Any fool can destroy trees. They cannot run away" —John Muir 1901

When I moved into the Caspar transitional pygmy forest adjacent to Jackson State Forest in 1970, very few people lived here. Back in those days if anyone drove up the badly neglected dirt trail that became Caspar Orchard Road, it was a momentous occasion. Jackson "Demonstration" State Forest was being heavily logged. Where the kiosk on road 500 is now, there was a landing and weigh station for log trucks. Hence the location became known as "The Scales".

The Dept. of Forestry claimed at that time that their aim was a demonstration, multiple use forest. Near as I could tell the multiple uses were logging, logging and more logging. Recreation or the health of the forest was not high on their priority list. And after the initial massive clear cutting of the huge, original virgin trees that were present in the eighteen hundreds, the second and third cuts left the forest a ghostly shadow of its former grandeur.

I took part in some of the logging activities back then. We had a contract with the forest service to thin the suckers away from the logged over redwood stumps. We would leave a few larger, healthier ones to grow and hopefully become trees. The poles would be made into fence posts and sold in the city. One of the contractors hired me and my little Allis Chalmers bull dozer to clean up some of the roads and logging decks. I also worked the log decks for several years welding and repairing broken logging equipment. The loggers called me 'The Hippy Welder'.

I got to see first hand what was being done and had been done to what was once a stunningly beautiful forest. In those days the forest was looked at and appreciated primarily for what it could provide in 'board feet' of timber. Very little thought was given for sustainability or recreation. Let alone the fact that this biosphere was providing oxygen, storing carbon and providing a habitat for thousands of species. No thought was given to the wealth and diversity of plants inhabiting the forest floor. The forest was strictly viewed as a commodity.
I never understood how some of the good people I worked with could come into the forest and comment on how beautiful it was—then happily cut it down. These were not bad humans. But they simply did not seem to grasp the magnitude of the destruction they were taking part in.

Currently, there are vastly more people living here in Mendocino than fifty or even ten years ago. And we have become a hot spot for tourism. Logging is not at all the top industry that it once was. The forest is so much more valuable than just a resource for profit from timber sales. Because of the many people standing up and demonstrating against the forest practices of the time, the Forest Service and Cal Fire have come to somewhat more enlightened views and policies. However it is my strong belief that there needs to be much more awareness and major changes in management if we are going to get through the challenging environmental crises of our times.

Because the remaining forests that make it possible for us to continue living on this planet are being wantonly cut down almost everywhere in the world, it is urgent for us to re-assess what is most important to us, our children and grandchildren and the immediate health of our planet. I expect agencies that have been put in charge of Jackson State Forest are of good intentions. But they are bound by many obsolete policies, dogma and financial constraints. I believe they are mostly good people who want to do the right thing. I believe they worry as I do about the rapid carbon buildup in our fragile atmosphere, the relentless increase in the planet's temperature and the human initiated degradation of the habitat, beauty and health the forest provides for us.

I find it very encouraging that so many people have come to build and maintain trails, pick up trash and spend time immersed in the beauty of the forest while replenishing weary souls. We are all in this together. We have to keep communications open and remain engaged with everyone involved in the ongoing evolution of forest policy and practices. It is so important, now more than any time in history, that we all work cooperatively, find common ground and keep our fragile forests healthy. It is a time much less of harvesting. It is a time of nurturing.

I am yours sincerely,

Gene Parsons